Morning Devotion for the Season of Eastertide
Monday, May 2, 2022
The Feast of SS. Philip & James
The Invitatory
Alleluia! Christ is risen. The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia."
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end.
Amen.
Praise ye the Lord.
The Lord's Name be praised.
Reading: Psalm 139:1-17
1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O Lord, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me fast.
10 If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
and the light around me turn to night,"
11 Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day; *
darkness and light to you are both alike.
12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14 My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book; *
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.
16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
how great is the sum of them!
17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; *
to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.
Meditation – Michael Palmisano
“Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb; all of them were written in your book; they were fashioned day by day, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:15). Should it trouble us that advancements in modern medical technology have permitted us to see what was once only available to the eyes of God? A new life coming into being in the hiddenness of a mother’s womb was formerly a thing which veiled our beginnings in the mystery and miraculous generosity of God. Ultrasounds (2D and 3D) have unveiled that mystery. And yet, the preciousness with which God beholds us from the beginning of our lives to their end is no less miraculous.
Back when it was the custom of this parish, this was the psalm that the young people of Redeemer recited during the “Rite 13” service. This was a service which culminated our 7th graders’ Church School experience, and which served as a recognition of each young person’s transition into [young] adult life. It’s little surprise why this was the psalm chosen by the crafters of the “Rite 13” curriculum. It offers an acknowledgement of God’s ever-watchfulness in our lives – during our most self-centered and isolating years of young-adulthood, in the years yet to come, and from the moment of our conception in our mothers’ womb. The message is simple yet disarming – there is no place where God is not.
With the miracle of ultrasounds, it is now possible to stare our children in the face before they can even open their eyes – before the rods and cones of their eyes have even formed. Yet, this does not make any less of God and God’s care for us. As an example, I can consider my current knowledge of my own children. At this moment in their lives (9 months old), it is very possible that I know my children even better than they know themselves. And yet, God knows them better still. This is a reality which will never change. That gap in knowledge will only widen as my girls grow up. My girls will know themselves better – know who they are being called to be in this world – and I too will know them more and more while their inner lives become further hidden from me. Yet, all the while, God will be near to them, closer and closer and will know the fullness of who they have been and who they are yet to be. This is a comfort for me as a father and as a person of faith – to recognize and accept that all people may share an intimate life with God which is uniquely and expansively theirs alone. As God delights in us collectively as a human family with infinite breadth, so too does God delight with endless depth in the miracle that is each unique life acquainted with Him. None shall ever be lost to Him.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give us calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
